Thousands of deals in the offing for businesses at International Festival for Business 2016

A business club, which will help companies access thousands of potential deals during the International Festival for Business 2016 (IFB2016), has launched.

The free-to-join International Festival for Business Club will provide access to IFB2016's Meet Your Future Deal programme, a digital matching service that will provide introductions to potential buyers, partners, investors and suppliers, offering a fantastic opportunity to win new business. www.ifb2016.com/ifb-business-club

Companies from the UK and overseas are encouraged to register for the club as soon as possible and provide the information needed so appointments with prospective matches can be organised on their behalf.

Around 6,000 face-to-face appointments are expected to be conducted during the three-week festival, which takes place in Liverpool in June and is delivered in partnership with UK Trade & Investment, the GREAT Britain Campaign and with the support of the UK Government.

Festival Director Ian McCarthy said: "The International Festival for Business Club will create an easy-to-access route for businesses looking to engage with the festival.

"But more than that, we've created a virtual shop window, where businesses looking to do deals can showcase their products and services and connect with potential buyers, partners, investors and suppliers from all over the world in just a few easy steps.

"This offers unbeatable opportunities for ambitious companies who may lack an international network but are looking to take their business to the next level and do deals on a regional, UK-wide or global scale."

The Business Club will also enable businesses to access free advice from industry experts through the Meet Your Specialist Advisor programme. Covering each step of the business-growth journey, delegates will be paired with the advisors best suited to their needs through the digital matching service.

Specialist-advice areas range from international market research to export tax, the tender process - including the latest export opportunities - to logistics, finance and legal. Advisors will represent organisations including UK Trade & Investment, Exporting is GREAT, British Library & Intellectual Property Centre and London Stock Exchange.

"As a result of IFB2014, we know that UK businesses benefited from the festival to the tune of £280million in new sales and investment deals and we're expecting IFB2016 to be even more successful. This is a global, outwardly focused festival and we want to really encourage companies to get involved, engage with the International Festival for Business Club and make the most of the plethora of opportunities that will present themselves," Ian added.

Business Club activity sits at the core of the festival: delivering business opportunities, new customers, growth and enhanced prospects for firms in the UK and overseas.

The festival is supported by main partners HSBC and BT, global media partners Bloomberg and The Times and festival supporters Arup, DLA Piper, DONG Energy, Heathrow, PwC, Siemens and Virgin Trains.

The second International Festival for Business takes place in Liverpool in June 2016, with activity clustered round three themes: manufacturing, creative and digital, and energy and environment. Thousands of businesses are expected to gather for three weeks of networking and deal-making.

Delivered in partnership with UK Trade & Investment, the GREAT Britain Campaign and with the support of the UK Government, IFB2016 will be a global marketplace for creating connections and doing deals. It runs from 13 June to 1 July 2016 at the state-of-the-art Exhibition Centre Liverpool. It brings together thousands of businesses from around the world for three weeks of events to explore new export opportunities, networking and deal-making.

There will be about 80 notable events during IFB2016. This includes World Broadband Alliance's Wi-Fi Global Congress 2016 - the world's leading Wi-Fi event; the much-respected ACCELERATE event, which provides a unique accelerator for growth, motivation and an opportunity to connect businesses; TEDx comes to IFB2016 with speakers exploring what's in store for the future of technology, science, design, entertainment, media and entrepreneurship and how that will help fuel changes in looking at the world, industry and business.

Joining the International Festival for Business Club is delegates' free ticket into the festival and also provides access to incredible benefits during the run-up to the festival. This includes a raft of essential business support services, which will be launched in the very near future.

About UK Trade & Investment and the GREAT Britain Campaign at IFB2016
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) – the government department that helps UK-based companies export and international companies establish and expand in the UK – is hosting an exciting programme of 15 events at IFB2016. The events are aligned with weekly sector themes: week one, manufacturing; week two, energy and environment; week three, creative and digital. Businesses can register for UKTI events online.

The GREAT Britain campaign showcases the best of what the UK has to offer to inspire the world and encourage people to visit, do business, invest and study in the UK. It is the Government’s most ambitious international promotional campaign ever, uniting the efforts of the public and private sector to generate jobs and growth for Britain.

The UKTI Investment Showcase at IFB2016 will highlight high-value investment opportunities across the UK to visiting investors, while investment advisors will be on hand to provide specialist advice about setting up in the UK, including the support that the Government can provide.